Introduction
For an introduction to and definition of the wiki, see Wikis. The wiki type of webpage is incredibly flexible and is a good place to begin creating your own website. You can create one and allow it to grow more or less organically as your needs become clearer and/or they change. You can change it whenever you like and you can create a new wiki if reorganizing an old one is not worth your time.
Additionally, wikis are essentially infinite. You can have as many wikis as you want.
Finally, wikis have resources for changing things back if someone makes an edit that destroys information.
Example of a Changing Wiki
This wiki (http://worldowiki.wikispaces.com/) is the precursor to http://literacymethods.wikispaces.com). It is not terribly well organized, but it got the job done when it was created. The Literacy Methods wiki was created later on with a particular organization in mind, but has also been reorganized a couple of times (summer project....). The first wiki had a lot of text, some links, some images, some documents uploaded, and some embedded videos. The newer wiki has all of what the old wiki had but also some new features--a hand-made index (which is now out of date), some widgets, some tables, and clearer ways to find things on it. These changes reflect learning about what can be done with a wiki. Future changes (next summer's project) will probably include putting the Table of Contents widget on each page instead of the lugubrious system that is currently on there, adding more other types of widgets, updating the index and/or figuring out how to make the updating process more automatic.
Some Types of Educational Wikis
List of resources
Some wikis are essentially a list of resources such as links to other webpages, organized or not. Unorganized lists are still navigable because of the search feature in wikis, so this can be a useful and relatively-easy-to make wiki. Lists of webpages can be improved simply by annotating each item or, better yet, having students annotate them.
Classroom Support
When you give a handout to a student (whether kindergarten or college), you run the risk of the handout being lost under the student's bed along with a whole lot of other stuff. The student cannot make use of the handout, making it kind of a waste of time. When the handout is given out but also posted on the wiki, the number of excuses for not making use of it diminish, particularly when you point this out to students. It's relatively easy to upload documents such as handouts to your wiki so that they are available to students even after the paper one is long gone. This goes for information sent to parents, as well.
Additionally, you can list upcoming events on the wiki to keep them fresh in people's minds.
Effective ways of getting students to actually use this kind of wiki include, telling them about it, showing them the wiki, telling them about how the handouts are on the wiki (and show them where) so that they are responsible for this material, and also using the prompt, "It's on the .....[wiki]" when students ask for additional copies of information.
Classroom Collaboration
When students are studying a topic, you can make a wiki for them (or show them how to make a wiki) for that project. This will help them to collect materials, organize them, and reflect on them.
Scrapbook
Pictures, videos, and notes can help students (and you) to remember past projects and classroom events. This kind of wiki could be created at the beginning of the year as a way of keeping records of that year.
A wiki will help you to start figuring out how you want to present information (for example, do you want each wiki page to be about a different concept or a different project?). Yet you don't even have to
In order to get a wiki, go to one of the places that hosts wikis. This wiki is hosted on http://wikispaces.com but there are other hosting sites.
Get a membership. These are usually free and you may also have options to pay for more features such as being able to design your own template and the like. The free version offers many choices and is robust in terms of what can be created on it.
When you get a membership, you will get an opportunity to create your own wiki.
For an introduction to and definition of the wiki, see Wikis. The wiki type of webpage is incredibly flexible and is a good place to begin creating your own website. You can create one and allow it to grow more or less organically as your needs become clearer and/or they change. You can change it whenever you like and you can create a new wiki if reorganizing an old one is not worth your time.
Additionally, wikis are essentially infinite. You can have as many wikis as you want.
Finally, wikis have resources for changing things back if someone makes an edit that destroys information.
Example of a Changing Wiki
This wiki (http://worldowiki.wikispaces.com/) is the precursor to http://literacymethods.wikispaces.com). It is not terribly well organized, but it got the job done when it was created. The Literacy Methods wiki was created later on with a particular organization in mind, but has also been reorganized a couple of times (summer project....). The first wiki had a lot of text, some links, some images, some documents uploaded, and some embedded videos. The newer wiki has all of what the old wiki had but also some new features--a hand-made index (which is now out of date), some widgets, some tables, and clearer ways to find things on it. These changes reflect learning about what can be done with a wiki. Future changes (next summer's project) will probably include putting the Table of Contents widget on each page instead of the lugubrious system that is currently on there, adding more other types of widgets, updating the index and/or figuring out how to make the updating process more automatic.
Some Types of Educational Wikis
List of resources
Some wikis are essentially a list of resources such as links to other webpages, organized or not. Unorganized lists are still navigable because of the search feature in wikis, so this can be a useful and relatively-easy-to make wiki. Lists of webpages can be improved simply by annotating each item or, better yet, having students annotate them.
Classroom Support
When you give a handout to a student (whether kindergarten or college), you run the risk of the handout being lost under the student's bed along with a whole lot of other stuff. The student cannot make use of the handout, making it kind of a waste of time. When the handout is given out but also posted on the wiki, the number of excuses for not making use of it diminish, particularly when you point this out to students. It's relatively easy to upload documents such as handouts to your wiki so that they are available to students even after the paper one is long gone. This goes for information sent to parents, as well.
Additionally, you can list upcoming events on the wiki to keep them fresh in people's minds.
Effective ways of getting students to actually use this kind of wiki include, telling them about it, showing them the wiki, telling them about how the handouts are on the wiki (and show them where) so that they are responsible for this material, and also using the prompt, "It's on the .....[wiki]" when students ask for additional copies of information.
Classroom Collaboration
When students are studying a topic, you can make a wiki for them (or show them how to make a wiki) for that project. This will help them to collect materials, organize them, and reflect on them.
Scrapbook
Pictures, videos, and notes can help students (and you) to remember past projects and classroom events. This kind of wiki could be created at the beginning of the year as a way of keeping records of that year.
A wiki will help you to start figuring out how you want to present information (for example, do you want each wiki page to be about a different concept or a different project?). Yet you don't even have to
In order to get a wiki, go to one of the places that hosts wikis. This wiki is hosted on http://wikispaces.com but there are other hosting sites.
Get a membership. These are usually free and you may also have options to pay for more features such as being able to design your own template and the like. The free version offers many choices and is robust in terms of what can be created on it.
When you get a membership, you will get an opportunity to create your own wiki.